Note: Come on guys, where did you all disappear to?

Chapter Ten: Lucky to Be Here

The ride was a quiet one. Sam was bursting with questions but she could tell by the look on her boss's face that now wasn't the time to be asking them. She had to assume that the call had come from Vivian and that they were currently on their way to pick-up Martin, wherever he was. She knew that when they were alone there would be yelling of some sort. She could feel the anger rolling off of Jack. Not only had Martin kept a vital piece of evidence from the case he had also been in late for work. Hell, he hadn't even showed up as far as she could tell. That only made matters worse. She counted her lucky stars that she was along for the ride for the simple fact that she could keep Jack from killing Martin. It wasn't like the other man to be so…insubordinate was the only word that came to mind. Martin proved over the last few years that he was truly a hard worker, that he enjoyed his job. So what if he slipped up after getting shot? Could they really blame him for getting addicted to pain medication? He could have died that night, right there on that damp pavement. His whole life could have been over in the blink of an eye. Situations like that changed people. And it had changed him. He got addicted to the pills but he overcame them and threw himself into his work. She was afraid that he might be slipping.

"He's going to fall off the wagon," she said in the silence of the car.

Jack looked over at her for a second before turning his eyes back to the road. "What makes you say that?"

"Oh come on, Jack. He didn't show up for work and he's keeping things to himself? Sounds like he's already gone and fallen. This isn't good. We need to…"

"We need to what?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I've never really dealt with someone who has an addiction before."

"You're not the only one," he said. "I don't know how to handle this situation. Part of me, hell, the majority of me wants to get in his face and yell at him. But then there's this voice in my head that keeps telling me that it's not what I think it is, that there's more than I can see."

"Which feeling are you going to go with?"

He shrugged as he pulled through an intersection. "Guess we'll have to wait and see."

--

Jack pulled the black sports utility vehicle into a spot along the curb and killed the engine. He looked out at the brick building, not really believing what he was seeing and yet at the same time it made sense. Unbuckling his seatbelt he got out of the car. He met Sam on the sidewalk. From the look on her face he could tell that she was having a plethora of unpleasant thoughts but below that he could see that she was worried. Worried about what? About Martin or about what he was going to do when he got the young Fitzgerald alone? The two of them headed inside, Jack in the lead. He stopped at the counter and spoke to the woman seated there. She listened and then told him to have a seat, that she would have a word with her boss and Martin would be brought around. Jack informed her that he wanted to speak to her boss, not Martin.

That upset Sam even more but she remained quiet, watching and waiting for the right moment to step in.

A tall man with a buzz-cut came through the door a moment later. He had crystal blue eyes but a stern smile. "Special Agent Malone, I was told that you wanted to have a word with me…?"

"Yes, I was wondering if maybe we could borrow one of your interrogation rooms."

"For the purpose of what precisely?"

"I would like to find out why my agent has been disobeying me, keeping things from me, and why he managed to end up here. You don't mind, do you?"

The other man smiled and nodded to show that he understood. "Not in the least. I've been down that road myself. I'll take you to one of our rooms and have Mr. Fitzgerald brought to you."

"Thank you."

--

Sam leaned back against the cool gray wall, afraid for some reason to sit. Something about the situation warranted that she remain standing. Maybe it was the energy crackling off her boss. She wanted to keep Martin safe but at the same time she could understand the anger. What had he done to end up in such place as this? And why had he done that one thing? She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh of anxiety. When she'd gotten out of bed that morning the last thing she thought of was that she'd have to play referee between the two men she'd had a relationship with. This was going to be hell.

A minute later Martin was led into the room. He looked like he'd been through the wringer. His hair was messed up and their were dark circles under his eyes. His clothes were the same ones that he'd been wearing at work the day before but now they were dirty and wrinkled. What exactly had he been doing? He took a seat at the top, positioning himself across the table from Jack.

"You want to tell me why you're here?"

Martin swallowed, licking his lips somewhat nervously. "I…"

"I already know, Martin. You got arrested. Do you know what your father is going to do when this gets back to him? He's going to find out about your little addiction, Martin. Is that what you wanted? Did you want your father to know you've been popping pills?"

"No…"

"Then why did you do it? Did you think that I would just waltz in here and have you removed from the system like it never happened?"

Martin wisely remained quiet.

"There was a chance that I would have done that for you," Jack said. "But that went out the window when I found earlier this morning that you were keeping things from me. Things that happen to be vital to this case. Why didn't you tell me that you knew Daniel Taylor?"

"We went to meetings together," Martin protested. "That was it. I would say hi and we'd talk about our day but that was it. We weren't even really friends. I didn't think it mattered."

"It does matter. You know that!"

"Jack," Sam interrupted.

He ignored her for the most part but he did drop his voice. "There is something that you still aren't telling me. And I'm pretty sure that you won't come around for another day or two so I'm going to do the only thing that I can."

"What's that?"

"As of right now you are suspended."

"But-"

Jack held up his hand. "Just count your stars that I'm the one sitting across this table, Martin, and not your father. I'll post your bail and see what can be done about the record but I'm not making any promises. Once you're out of here your ass goes back home. And if I catch wind of you popping pills again it'll cost you your job and your father will find out. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," Martin said.